"We're home!" Baekhyun announced after coming back from the hospital with grandma after her checkup.

For the last couple of days Jian and Baekhyun had been begging grandma to get the surgery. Both of them knew that the surgery is critical and can cause nonreversible consequences given all of grandma's other sicknesses. But if she doesn't get the surgery for any longer anything can happen. And both Jian and Baekhyun know that grandma hides her pain from them. Jian had emotionally blackmailed her grandma into getting the surgery. Baekhyun was amazed by her skills. Now the doctor told them that they would check keep checking her conditions and come up with a surgery date as soon as possible.

Baekhyun knows it was a hard decision for Jian as well. Even she is hiding her pain and fear and studying hard for her csats. She said she's gonna make her grandma proud and give a perfect answer to her dad with her result. Baekhyun had told her to only keep that in mind and study towards hard without caring about anything.

Jian seems to have taken his advice quite literally. She is studying..a lot. She rarely comes out of her room. Baekhyun is suspicious. There must be some other reason of her studying so goddamn hard. Baekhyun just wonders what is up with her, she refuses to tell him.

Baekhyun hasn't been living here full time, he has been going to work to Seoul almost everyday like normal. He doesn't mind it. He likes it this way. This way he can both work and keep Yunho happy and also look after Jian and grandma. Yunho has raised hell when Baekhyun announced that he's coming back to Goyang to live there for sometime. But Baekhyun couldn't help it. Grandma had given him love like a real family member and he couldn't just let her suffer alone. And also he knew how much stress Jian was in. Just because he decided to totally ignore his feelings for her, that doesn't mean they don't exist. Yunho is still angry at him. But Baekhyun is making it up to him by working extra. Yunho can't be angry on him for long anyway.

After helping grandma to get to her room, Baekhyun knocked on Jian's door and then flung it open. The whole room was full of notes, books, papers everywhere. Jian was sitting at her study table looking like a mess. She was  drinking a huge mug of coffee, pulling her hair to probably stop a headache from forming and staring at her books.

"Oh my God, Jian what the fuck are you doing?"Baekhyun was so shocked by her and her room's state, he couldn't help but curse.

"I be studying, don't disturb, bye."

"No, you look like you are on the verge of losing the one drop of sanity you had left. And what the heck did you make of your room? And is that your fourth mug of coffee since morning?"

"Fifth and mom can you not disturb right now? I have to get into Seoul University. You can nag my life style later."

"This isn't a life style, Jian. This is just bad decision. I know how serious you are about this but right now you might go insane. Let's go out on a walk. You need some fresh air."

"Oh hell no. There ain't a way imma waste my precious time walking around with you and kiss my scholarship farewell,"Jian said,"And now if you'd excuse me..I have been stuck on a math for an hour and I gotta go back to it."

"See? You're stuck on that problem for an hour cause you need some fresh air. I'm not taking no for an answer. So get the fuck up. Let's go."

"There's no way in hell I'm going on a walk with you."

Baekhyun frowned,"Why?"

"Because I.."Jian was about to blurt out something but abruptly stopped and was embarrassed.

"Because you?"

Jian seemed to be thinking something quickly and then said,"Because..you..Yeah...because you look so young right now and if we are seen together people might think..."She again abruptly stopped,"..that you are my little brother or some shit."

Baekhyun frowned,"That literally makes no sense. I think even you know it."

Baekhyun has been suspicious that Jian has been sneakily trying to avoid him since her birthday. But he used to brush that thought of thinking she's just busy with studies. But something really seems to be going on with her.

Baekhyun shook his head. He isn't having it. He held her wrist and dragged her out of her room,"Let's go. I can't see your descend to insanity anymore. You can study with a fresh mind when we come back."

"No..."

"Yes."

"But.."

"Shut it.."

Jian finally gave up,"Okay okay..I will go. Just let go of my wrist..Mr.Annoying Boomer."

Baekhyun looked at her, smiled and let go,"Let's go."

Is she...blushing?

Baekhyun shook his head.

Well..of course she isn't. Stop wishful thinking, Byun Baekhyun.

After taking a walk, Baekhyun and Jian went to bakery place a bit far from their home. Jian doesn't come here a lot but it's nice. The food looks delicious. Baekhyun wanted to take her to eat something healthy but she pestered him to take her to this bakery. She knew lately Baekhyun has been craving some strawberry pastries. So it all works out. After ordering they sat at a table by the huge glass windows of the bakery. Baekhyun has really been looking very young. His matching blue tracksuit and a white T-shirt underneath with his bangs almost reaching his eyes gave him such a childlike innocence. Maybe because of that all the girls in the bakery were looking at him and whispering things to each other. Jian didn't like that at all. She tried to be subtle but very non subtly glared at all of them one by one. She was literally throwing daggers with her eyes at their direction without realizing.

Soon their cakes arrived. Baekhyun happily dove in, but Jian couldn't enjoy it as much as she'd like too because there's chicks eyeing Baekhyun. She knows Baekhyun is handsome but there's no need to stare at him like that.

"We're never coming back here again,"Jian said.

"Why? The pastry is really tasty though,"Baekhyun said innocently.

"I don't like the environment and there's vultures everywhere."

That's when Baekhyun figures out what was happening. He was used to getting stares so it didn't bother him too much.

Baekhyun saw it Jian's face and smiled. Jian noticed it,"Why're you smiling like that?"

"You're gonna scare them. Let them enjoy the view. Don't let them bother you."

Jian frowned,"Listen, who said I'm bothered? I'm just trying to protect their eyes. You look like a clown with your matching clothes. Such an eyesore."

"Sure sure,"Baekhyun said while smiling wider.

That made her heart feel weird,"Don't smile like that, you look like a creep."

Baekhyun nodded but didn't stop smiling.

"I told you to stop smiling like that."

As soon as Baekhyun finished his pastry Jian got up and held his elbow in front of everyone, "Let's go, I need to go back to study. Took too long of an useless and infuriating break."

Baekhyun again just smiled,"Let's go."

One night a few minutes before midnight Baekhyun came down from his roof to get some water. He was expecting to see downstairs in complete darkness but surprisingly the lights of the living room were on. He was curious so he got into the living room and saw a very confusing scenario. Jian was sitting on the couch with the router by her side and her phone, her grandma's phone and her laptop on her lap. She also has a blue blanket over her head and a tons of snacks on the table.

"Are you preparing for zombie apocalypse or something?"Baekhyun asked.

Jian turned around at the sudden voice and said,"It's about to be 12 soon, please leave me alone and go on your merry way. It's the most important moment of my life right now."

She asked him to leave him alone, there's no way he's doing that right now. He walked closer to her curiously and asked,"Are some results coming out?"

"Nah, more important than that."

Baekhyun was confused. She had been so engrossed in studies she doesn't play video games as much nowadays but it might be something related to video games,"Is a game being released?"

"Nah, more important than that."

Baekhyun leaned over her blanketed shoulder to see what the heck was actually up. He was confused seeing a YouTube premier for something,"What is this?"

"My Oppas are coming back!"Jian excitedly said.

Baekhyun frowned,"What?"

"ĖXØ is coming back in two minutes! It's been centuries since we had a group comeback and I'm gonna ditch everything and stream the mv like my life depends on it."

"You're gonna ditch a whole day of studying just to watch a bunch of almost 30 year olds dancing in tight leather pants?"

"If you disrespect my oppas once again I'm gonna chokeslam your ass. Just go and do whatever you came to do. Ah! It's time."

Jian quickly clicked on the music video named 'Don't fight the feeling' and started fangirling like crazy.

Baekhyun didn't like it at all. He also didn't like how she screamed when that Baëkhyun guy was shown on the screen.

"OPPA!"

He's really salty about the fact that he has been trying his hard and soul to get her to take her mind off of studying but failing but this Baëkhyun guy getting her to stop studying for a whole day? He never liked this Baëkhyun guy anyway.

After one time watching the mv, Jian took a deep breath,"Oh my God, it was awesome."

"What was so awesome about six guys dancing in a spaceship? I wonder how this spaceship didn't crash. And you don't even like this kind of music,"Baekhyun said sulking.

"Yeah you're right. But for my Oppa I can listen to and like anything. Even though I like pus..."

"Stop right there. And sometimes think it through before opening your mouth."

Jian shrugged and played the mv on all the devices she had, repeating the same cycle of fangirling.

Baekhyun also isn't liking how she told him that he's her favorite singer and now is fangirling over that guy and also crying over how he's going to the military after this comeback.

Baekhyun sighed,"Hey, your Baëkhyun Oppa and I are the same age. How come I'm the boomer and he's the Oppa?"

"You're right. He's not Oppa. He's dilf."

"What does that mean?"

Jian causally asked,"You really wanna know?"

Baekhyun nodded.

"Daddy I.."

"On a second thought I don't think I want to know."

"Boomer."

"You really should get your mind out of the gutter. You're barely an adult now. Brat."

Jian smirked but went back to streaming. Baekhyun sighed. He doesn't like to be silent and she's not going to give him any attention anymore. He doesn't even want to go to sleep. So he got his phone out and started listening to IU's songs. At first Jian couldn't care less but after sometime of streaming she turned around and saw Baekhyun staring at IU as she's singing with her angelic voice.

"Can you listen to this in your room? I'm kind of in a middle of something right now,"Jian said while frowning.

"I don't want to,"Baekhyun stuck his tongue out and said,"You should be thankful that I'm making you listen to IU's heavenly voice and cleansing your eyes with her pretty face."

Baekhyun knows what he is doing is the definition of being petty, but at least he's having fun. And he continued to blast IU's songs right in front of her ear intentionally.

Jian didn't like it at all. Something in her was burning. She was losing her patience. Mostly because he was fanboying over IU intentionally to annoy her. Jian took a deep breath, she really wants to smack his head with a pillow.

And that's what she did. She smacked his head really hard with a cushion, taking him completely off guard and making his phone fall on the a ground. He looked at her, shocked,"Are you insane?"

"Well..Oppa told me to not fight my feelings so..I'm not going to,"Jian smirked and was about to go back to steaming.

But Baekhyun was furious. He also grabbed a cushion and smacked her right on her head. Soon it somehow turned into an intense cushion fight. No one knows how. Both of them wanted to win. The whole living room was a mess. 'Don't fight the feeling' was being played repeatedly throughout. It was a huge mess of a match.

After an intense match both of them lied on the floor catching their breaths side by side and Baekhyun finally said,"What we just did was so damn stupid and unnecessary."

"But it was fun though."

"Yeah, that's true. I totally won."

Jian frowned,"Oh hell no, I won Mr.Boomer. I destroyed you totally. Don't even."

They were about to get into another fight but stopped because they were too tired. So they just stared at the ceiling above them. So peaceful.

"Jian-ah?"

"Hmm?"

"You are studying too hard without taking care of yourself these days. I'm worried you might get sick. Please, take breaks in the middle. Not like this. Just.."

Jian smiled. Just a few minutes ago he was aggressively smacking her with couch cushions and now he sounds so genuinely concerned.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. I just know for a fact that you are gonna make it to Seoul university, prove everyone you're worth it and be an amazing successful human being."

"Dang, shit's turning sentimental,"Jian chuckled

Baekhyun also smiled, not removing his eyes from the ceiling.

"But you're right, Baek. I'm being like this mostly because of my ego, also because of I want to keep my minds off of some things. Like grandma's sickness and that her surgery might go wrong and also because.."

"Because?"

You. "Nothing."

"You're hiding a lot from me these days, Jian."

"It's..just the time's not right, Baekhyun. I will."

Baekhyun sighed,"Anyway, nothing will happen to grandma. The surgery date might be close to your csats. But please...don't stress about it too much."

"I won't."

She was lying, Baekhyun knew it. He was about to say something about it but  Jian stopped him.

"There's also a reason I'm working this hard. I'm thinking by working this hard for this few months I would be able to do all the things I've wanting to do for long in college. Like adults."

"What are those?"

"Umm..a lot of things. Getting drunk for the first time, going to a drive in movie theater, spending a whole night watching fireworks by the Han river, finally getting a ps5, staring at the night view from Namsan tower..ah so much more."

Baekhyun smiled,"Why don't you make a list of all of that, so all of that can be done without forgetting."

"I probably should. You're not internally laughing at my girly side, are you?"

"No, I'm not, I'm just happy that your not an emotionless robot I met you as anymore."

Jian didn't reply to that, stared at the ceiling,"I'm really excited to be an adult, Baek. I used to feel like I have matured way too early for my age. I felt like I was immune to everything. But after that night..I think I have so much to learn about adulting. It intrigues me so much. I sometimes wonder what kind of adult I will be."

Baekhyun nodded,"I used to think that too."

"What do you think? What kind of adult would I be?"

Jian was expecting Baekhyun to give a very cheeky, non serious answer but with he seemed so sincere with his voice,"No matter what kind of adult you become, just know that I'm gonna be there to help you with everything, every question, every frustration you have. So rest assured. Don't be scared."

Jian finally looked away from the ceiling and turned her face to him. These are the times she can't ignore her emotions and control her expressions. Her heart was pounding, she felt light headed. She really wants to tell him, everything, pour out her feelings for him. But she stopped. She fought her feelings back. And got up,"I have to go back to streaming."

Sorry ËXØ, I couldn't help but fight my feelings this time.

Maybe next time.

Days started passing by as the day of the csats drew very much closer and Jian's feelings for Baekhyun grew deeper and became harder to hide. But she somehow manage to hide them. But a good news is that her grandma's surgery date fell on a day after her exam. The doctor said it is okay. So she wouldn't have to worry about that for sometime.

One morning Jian was eating her breakfast at the table while scrolling through her phone and Baekhyun was sitting by her side at the table reading a book with his glasses on. Grandma was watching the tv and when she turned on a news station a breaking news caught Jian's attention.

Breaking News: The engagement ring of Lee Miri, fiancée of the CEO of Vera group was replaced with a fake ring and the real one is missing.

The reporter said that the original emerald ring was an heirloom to the CEO's family. The fact that the ring was fake and replaced was found out by the discoloration of the fake ring after a lot of washes. Everyone is dumbfounded and Lee Miri says she doesn't know when or whom must've done something like this. The police is investigating the case thoroughly.

Jian saw how Baekhyun glanced at the tv for a moment and then went back to his book. Jian has been noticing how he hasn't been going to Seoul a lot the last couple of days. Something is fishy.

Jian whispered,"You are behind this, aren't you?"

Baekhyun shrugged.

Suddenly an unknown fear overwhelmed Jian. She doesn't know why. Just the thought of anyone coming after Baekhyun was terrifying. Sometimes she forgets that what Baekhyun does for a living is so scary and that police might be on his tail for the rest of his life.

Baekhyun noticed her sudden expression change. He squeezed her hand reassuringly,"Don't worry, Jian. Nothing will happen to me."

Jian removed her hand and narrowed her eyes at him,"Who said I'm worried?"

Baekhyun just smiled,"I'm glad then."

Jian still couldn't get rid of this terrible feeling.

New worry and stress, unlocked.

Amazing.

At the same time in the house across Jian's Minhee was sitting with her parents and saw the news of the emerald ring. The emerald ring looked so beautiful yet so oddly familiar. She just couldn't pinpoint where she saw it.

She was about to get up from her couch when she suddenly remembered Baekhyun wearing that ring one day in front of Jian's house. Minhee frowned.

All this and the timing of her bag disappearing just before Baekhyun left for Seoul gave her weird feelings.

Could it be...?

If what she thinks is right then it could be amazing blackmail and revenge material for so many people that humiliated her.

It's their mistake if they think, she's forgiven them.

Because she sure as hell hasn't.

Especially that bitch, Jung Jian.

___________________________

A/N:

Guys I'm almost done writing the story, I'm currently working on the last chapter right now. How do you want the updates to be? Shall I update everyday or every other day or shall I just publish all the remaining three chapters at once?

That would probably be too much for y'all at once, don't you think?

Anyway feel free to leave your suggestions. I'm gonna do whatever you all want.